《中英對照讀新聞》Lotto winner turned to thieving 樂透得主淪為盜賊

◎陳成良

A German who won 1.5 million Deutschmarks playing lotto eight years ago admitted recently he committed a string of burglaries after the cash trickled away.

一名八年前玩樂透贏得一百五十萬馬克的德國人，最近坦承他在千金散盡後，犯下一連串竊盜案。

Prosecutors said the father of three decided in 2003 to live by theft, and broke into nearly 70 homes, bars and cars in search of cash. He also took jewellery, watches, cameras and even three pairs of deer antlers, and kept them in a room in his basement.

檢方表示，這名三個孩子的父親在二○○三年決定以行竊為生，並闖入近七十家民宅、酒吧及汽車中搜刮現金。他也會拿走珠寶、手錶、相機，連至偷了三對鹿角，並將它們放在自家地下室的房間內。

Police near Meiningen, 150 kilometres east of Frankfurt, have returned much of the hoard, worth 13,000 euros, to the owners. The 49-year-old tiler, whose 1997 win was worth 935,000 dollars at current values, said he had spent or given away the lotto prize, including presents to his mother and two sisters. He built a house, but had to sell it after he ran out of money. “I don't know where the money went,” the former millionaire said.

法蘭克福以東一百五十公里麥寧根市附近地區的警方，已將價值一萬三千歐元的贓物中的大部分交還給失主。這名四十九歲的磚瓦匠，一九九七年贏得的獎金以現值估算為九十三萬五千美元（約台幣三千萬元）。他說，這些樂透獎金不是花掉就是送人，其中包括送給母親及兩名姊妹的禮物。他蓋了一棟房子，但錢花光後，不得不賣掉房子。「我不知錢跑哪兒去了，」這名前百萬富翁說。

新聞辭典

commit：動詞，犯（罪）、做（錯事等）。例句：I committed an error in handling the business.（我在處理業務時犯了一個錯誤。）

burglary：名詞，破門盜竊；竊盜案。例句：There have been numerous burglaries in this district recently.（近來此地竊盜案頻傳。）burglar是竊賊，尤指闖入屋內行竊的小偷。

live by ：片語，靠…過活，通常接動名詞。live on則後接名詞。例句：He lives on his wife's salary. （他靠老婆薪水過活。） live on也有「以…為食」的意思，如 live on fruits（以水果為食）。